Alex Bregman socked a walk-off home run leading off the ninth inning as the Houston Astros capped a rally from a five-run deficit to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-6 on Saturday.
Bregman’s second career walk-off homer came when he drilled a 1-0 slider from Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen (5-3) out to left field. His 14th home run on the season covered 403 feet and clinched Houston’s win of this three-game interleague series.
After rallying for four runs in the sixth inning, the Astros scored twice off Dodgers reliever Daniel Hudson in the eighth to knot the score at 6-6. Jeremy Pena and Jon Singleton produced run-scoring singles for the Astros, who then loaded the bases with two outs before Treinen entered and struck out Jose Altuve to end the frame.
Shohei Ohtani went 2-for-3 with a home run, two walks, two runs and two RBIs. He walked and scored during the Dodgers’ two-run fifth inning, and his RBI single in the sixth extended their lead to 5-0.
But Ohtani produced the highlight of the game with his leadoff blast in the the third. He crushed a 2-1 fastball from Astros starter Ronel Blanco into the stairwell atop the back row of the upper deck in right field. Ohtani recorded an exit velocity of 118.7 miles per hour with his National League-leading 32nd homer, a seismic blast perhaps conservatively estimated at 443 feet.
Gavin Lux and Teoscar Hernandez produced run-scoring singles off Astros reliever Bryan King, who entered with two on and one out in the fifth.
Blanco surrendered four runs on three hits and three walks over 4 1/3 innings and, despite matching his career high of nine strikeouts, was outpitched by Dodgers rookie left-hander Justin Wrobleski.
Wrobleski carried a shutout into the sixth before the Astros started to claw their way back.
Chas McCormick and Jose Altuve began the inning with singles, before Wrobleski got Bregman to ground into a force out and Yordan Alvarez to fly out. Wrobleski then departed in favor of Dodgers closer Evan Phillips, who promptly surrendered four successive RBI singles to Yainer Diaz, Pena, Jake Meyers and pinch-hitter Victor Caratini.
Dodgers first baseman Cavan Biggio whose RBI double opened the scoring in the second, socked his fourth home run with one out in the eighth to extend the Dodgers’ lead to 6-4.